Monday, February 12, 2007

Hello! I thought this blog may be a good way to keep everyone up to date with what is going on. As many of you know, Joe, Madison and I were in Orlando on vacation...one last trip to Disney before the baby was born. On Wednesday, our last full day of vacation, I started spotting. Thinking it was probably nothing, but better safe than sorry, I left Joe and Madison at the hotel pool to head to a nearby hospital, Celebrations Hospital, to have everything checked out. It was soon discovered that I was in labor. Joe and Madison of course came rushing to Celebrations Hospital and before we knew it, my contractions were coming every two minutes.

Celebrations Hospital is a Level 1 facility, which means that they were not really equipped to handle what was going on. This was our first blessing!!! They gave me medications to try and stop the contractions. If they could get my labor to subside, I would be transferred by ambulance to a Level 3 hospital. Thursday morning my contractions had subsided, and I was transferred to Orlando Hospital, where I am now. As it turns out, the first hospital did not necessarily have a protocol for dealing with patients in labor at 23 weeks, which is why we were given medicine to assist in stopping the contractions. Once we arrived at the high risk Level 3 Orlando Hospital, we learned that they do not consider a fetus viable before 24 weeks and as such do not typically give medications to someone in my stage of pregnancy to stop labor. Instead, patients are admitted to labor and delivery to await delivery, as I was. Anyways, as I mentioned, it was a blessing we that we first went to Celebrations as we were given medication that ended up helping.

Unfortunately, we soon discovered the source of the problem, I was diagnosed with Preterm Premature Rupture of the Membranes (PPROM)...which is a fancy way of saying that my water broke VERY early. As we stand now, the baby still has some water/fluid surrounding him anddoes not seem distressed at all by what has occurred. My contractions have also subsided, which is another huge blessing. The biggest concerns we now face with PPROM are as follows:

1.) Premature delivery. Delivery occurs 50% of the time with-in the first week and 75% with-in two weeks with PPROM.

2.) Risk of developing a serious infection called "chorioamnionitis" - this is an infection of the lining of the uterus and is dangerous to both the baby and I.

3.) Prolapse of the umbilical cord - this is where the umbilical cord literally begins to "fall out" of me. Did I mention I was 3 cm dilated when admitted?

The doctors have said it is not a matter of IF one of these things happen, but when. All of these are considered medical emergencies and require immediate delivery by cesarean section. My job here in the hospital is to stay pregnant for as long as possible. Although not the norm, people in my situation have been able to stay pregnant for weeks.

Statistically, the doctors are saying that the baby does not have a very good chance of suriving. However, one thing that doctors and statistics do not take into consideration is the power of the Lord. "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together." Colossians 1:17.

Thank you so much to everyone for your thoughts and prayers. God has been gracious to give us strength and comfort through all of this. Even in this time of distress, heartache and uncertainty, He has remained constant and faithful. God is good!

Many people have asked what they can do...PLEASE continue to pray!!!

Sorry for babbling on so long. I will try to update this site regularly but promise not to be so long winded.

16
comments:

Hi Jen!!This Blog is a great thing! I'm so happy Joe got you a laptop. I will continue to pray for you and the baby. I hope you got the picture of Madison at Kalahari! She had a great time. Take care!Julie

Joe, Jen, Madison and Baby Kyle -We are praying for you all every minute of every day. We love and miss you all very much. We are here for you if you need anything please do not heistate to let us know.Love, Angela, Dad and Katie

Great Information. I loved reading it. Thanks for keeping us all informed. Only you! What a great Valentines' gift from Joe! We are all praying for you and the baby. You would love to see Madison and Reese praying at night (with their little hands folded in front of them in bed) for Madison's little brother. There is something about a child praying!

This blog is great. Please rest as much as possible. That is your job now. We have hundreds of people praying for you and baby, Kyle.Miracles DO happen every day, we are usually just too busy to notice.I am so proud of you and Joe and Madison all of the time but especially now showing such faith and grace during these difficult times. I wish I was there to hug you.

Hi Jennifer. This is Laura Austin, Kelley Segedy's mom. Kelley has kept us abreast of your trial knowing that we would be faithful in prayer. I don't know if this will comfort you at all but I can relate to the situation you are in ---only I did not have a relationship with the Lord at the time so I did not derive hope and strength from prayer. When I was almost six months pregnant with Kelley I, too, went into premature labor and I was hemorrhaging. Turns out I suffered placenta previa and had a tear. I was in a small country hospital--- it was 1977---and the treatment they used to stop the contractions and to allow the placenta to heal was consumption of alcohol and bed rest----I drank a fifth of Seagram's mixed with o.j. every two days for about ten days. My life was in danger and it defintiely appeared I would lose the baby---back then very few survived at that early stage. As bizarre as the treatment/intervention sounds it worked. I was able to go home for the duration of the pregnancy and was just confined to bed rest and/or very limited activity. I went almost full term which was also unexpected all things considered.....and, I did not hear about fetal alcohol syndrome until a month later.....but, obviously and, thankfully, did no damage to Kelley.None of us can know what God has planned for you through this ordeal but we know He hears and responds to the faithful. You apparently have an army of warriors petitioning on your and Kyle's behalf. My husband and I count it a privilege to be part of that group.As hard as it may be to relax at this juncture it will give you benefits.....alcohol got me to relax. Hopefully, your faith and the love of those around you will help you to stay calm.Laura

Hi Jen! I am one of Kelley's frineds in VA. I'm sorry to hear about your situation... SO scary. I'm a labor and delivery nurse, so if you have any questions (that you for some reason don't want to ask your nurses there) PLEASE feel free to ask me! I know the odds aren't the greatest right now, but please know that I have seen people in your exact situation and EVERYTHING worked out alright! Just take it one day at a time... every day helps, and your goal right now is 24weeks... then 28weeks! The survival chances are much higher then... they go up every day! PRAYERS ARE BEING SENT YOUR WAY!!!

Hey Jennifer, It's Ashley from Premier. I am very sorry to hear about what is going on with you and baby Kyle and very happy to tell you Kelley made it thru deduction week fine:) LOL, thought that may bring a smile to your face. Please just remember that I am only 1 hour away and I would be more than happy to make the trip if there is something you need, or just to be of some company. Please, please, please call me if there is anything I can do. I gave my cell number to Kelley. I will keep you and your family in my prayers as are others from Premier.

Much love to you and yours from Cleveland Ohio! Hi Jen... so glad to hear the official version of your journey instead of getting second hand info from two guys who don't readily share or understand all this female information. We're thrilled you are stabilized, are hanging in there, and are receiving many prayers from so many loving friends and relatives. I think it's appropriate that Valentine's Day is tomorrow, because what you are doing is the epitomy of love. You and yours are in our daily thoughts and prayers. We already love little Kyle and know that each new day is a miracle in and of itself. May God allow you to hang on to him for as long as possible! Am glad to hear you are in good hands and your accomodations have improved. Stay faithful, positive, and as calm as possible. Much love to our wonderful niece!Aunt Lynn and Uncle Bob

Hi Jen-I don't know if you remember me or not, but I met you at the Bayside Lake Picnic this summer and then later at a soccer practice at Silver Springs. I heard about your ordeal and I wanted to let you know that I had PPROM at 20 weeks with my last pregnancy. After a couple of months in the hospital, my daughter, Meghan, was born at 35 weeks. She is now a healthy, happy and fiesty 5-year old! I was just in Orlando last week and I wish I would have known about this sooner. If there is anything I can do for you or if you want to talk, please let me know. I will be praying for you and Kyle.Melinda Kochmakoch@neo.rr.com

Hello from Aunt Dawn and Uncle Bob. Glad to hear Kyle is doing ok since the medicine. We have been checking the blog everyday.....sometimes more than once to check on his progress. We are still in Ft. Myers until the 6th when we head to Ohio then back down again on the 8th. Just in case you need us you will know where we are. We will be in Alva Fl for the 3rd and 4th by boat arriving back to the marina on the 5th. You can always reach us on Bobs cell. Our prayers and thoughts are with you all. Give a kiss to Madison and blow one to Kyle for us. Everyone hear in the marina asks about Kyle when we see them. We are not calling you for respect of your privacy but we are here if you need us....anytime. love and continued prayers Aunt Dawn and Uncle Bob

Jen, My name is Marty and you might remember me from the time that we spent working together at Acme #7....I just want to let you know that my prayers are with your family and baby Kyle. I can tell by reading your blog that Kyle is VERY SPECIAL and I can see that your strong faith and belief in God has given you strength that I cannot imagine. Please never lose faith...I am sure that you will not....If we would all just place our lives in the light of the lord what a marvelous place, full of miracles this would be. You will continue in my thoughts and prayers daily and I am sure that your Mom will keep us posted...Keeping prayers for you....Marty from Acme #7